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The big tent, or “grand chapiteau” as it’s called by Cirque du Soleil fans, is back in Vancouver for the first time since the 2012 run of Amaluna. This time, crowds will be wowed by Totem, a Cirque show that premiered in 2010 and won a 2013 Drama Desk award for unique theatrical experience.

What’s different — at least partly ­— about this show from recent Cirque productions is the involvement of Robert Lepage as writer/director, one of Canada’s most honoured theatre artists. It’s only the second Cirque show he has worked on, following Kà, which premiered in 2004.

So what does a Quebecois artist with a background in the Canadian theatre and film scenes bring to the Cirque formula of acrobatics, clowning, balancing, juggling and other feats?

“He has a wonderful imagination for creating these environments and textures,” said Neelanthi Vadivel, the production’s artistic director.

“He wanted to use video projections, so half of the stage is used as a kind of backdrop that the artist can walk on, and there are these projections that take us to the different environments for each scene. That’s been very important, because the actual numbers are quite intimate — there’ll be solos and duos and trios. It’s concentrated on intimate acrobatic structures but with these beautiful lush projections.”

Set designs at various points include a stage border resembling the plastron (underside) of a turtle and an Indian carpet meant to evoke a Bollywood esthetic. Video projections interact with the movements of the artists.

These settings provide the backdrops for a show that tells the story of what Cirque describes as “humankind’s incredible journey — from our original amphibian state to our ultimate quest for flight.”

Helping depict this journey are 11 acts, ranging from acrobatics and gymnastics to juggling and balancing.

“Robert was really captivated by the acrobatic content of Kà,” Vadivel said. “He wanted the acrobats to be at the forefront of Totem, but to put them in different environments. He chose specific moments in human evolution that would support the acts.”

Throughout the show, human archetypes are explored through characters such as The Scientist, Valentino and The Amerindian Dancer. And, this being Cirque, there is always a place for a clown. In this case, Clown Misha, who is described as “wary of fuss and extravagance.”

Totem also depicts different cultural aspects of humanity, Vadivel notes.

“We look, emotionally, at very young lovers and more mature lovers later in the show, and we see those relationships explored.”

One of the young lovers is Sarah Tessier, who performs the fixed-trapeze act with Guilhem Cauchois.

“It’s kind of the evolution of love,” she said. “Two young people discover each other, so you can go from the attraction to repulsion and everything in between.”

Originally from Montreal, the 22-year-old has been with the show since the summer of 2012 and has performed all over North America.

One reviewer recently called Tessier’s routine with Cauchois as “death-defying, erotic, and sometimes comedic.”

“For me, it’s not exactly death-defying,” Tessier said. “Everything is very safe and controlled. We’re not going to throw in things we know to be extremely dangerous. As far as erotic, I think maybe it’s a little bit sexy, not so much on the erotic side. In the show there’s another duo and they’re on the sexy side. We’re supposed to be young and innocent.”

She and Cauchois met when they were both auditioning for a program at the National Circus School in Montreal.

“I wanted to do a trapeze act, but I didn’t have a partner,” she recalled.

“He auditioned for ring-balancing but said he said he would be interested in doing trapeze. The school made us work together for something like 10 minutes and then they decided to put us together. I didn’t know him at all, and you’re basically telling them, ‘Yes, I will work with this guy I know nothing about and I’ll put my life in his hands.’”

She started out doing gymnastics at the age of five before moving on to other sports. “I never did one thing for a really long time, until I was 15.”

When she saw her first Cirque show at age five, she never could have predicted that one day she would be joining them on stage.

“It wasn’t something I thought I could do with my life,” said Tessier. “It was only later on I figured I could do it.”

She was appointed dance captain for that show, then became artistic director on Saltimbanco for three years. Her most recent gig was as head of Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour.

“Every show’s different,” she said. “Some shows are older, some travel in a different format. Saltimbanco and MJ were arena tours, so we changed venues every week. It was a different pace. My responsibilities were different, my schedule was different.”

Saltimbanco was performed for two decades, she says, and “it was very much about keeping that show fresh and relevant, and constantly reimagining inspiration for the artists. After 20 years, a show can grow stale. And it really can’t, it has to stay on top and ahead of the game. Totem is relatively young. There’s still a lot of energy, even within the cast, to draw on.”

Vadivel says she keeps things fresh by going back to the original creators’ intent.

“We don’t want to disrespect that original conceptual inspiration,” she said. “We draw from that, but can extrapolate different inspirational ideas or images. If an artist comes up with a different acrobatic element they want to integrate, we can see how it fits into the structure. If they want to develop their character, we can draw on that source material and see what direction we can go in.”

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